Letter to Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader, and Roger Wicker, Chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation - King Critical of Distance Learning Funding Shortfall in Coronavirus Bill

Letter

Dear Leader McConnell and Chairman Wicker:

We write to express our profound disappointment with the coronavirus relief package that Senate
Republicans proposed today. In its current form, this legislation fails to provide sufficient
funding to help ensure that all K-12 students have adequate home internet connectivity if their
schools close due to the ongoing pandemic. We believe that Congress must provide robust
resources for these purposes, in order to guarantee that all children are able to continue their
education during the current public health emergency. Simply put, we cannot bail out the airline
industry to the tune of tens of billions while providing only pennies for our nation's children.
The coronavirus pandemic has shone a bright light on the "homework gap" experienced by the
12 million students in this country who do not have internet access at home and are unable to
complete their homework -- at a time when more than 70% of educators assign schoolwork that
requires internet access. Research has shown that the homework gap affects students in both
rural and urban areas and disproportionately affects lower-income students and students of color.
Students without internet access at home consistently score lower in reading, math, and science.
We are concerned that this existing inequity will only be exacerbated by the high number of
schools that are suspending in-person classes and have transitioned to remote learning over the
internet to protect the health of students, faculty, and staff. Children without connectivity are at
risk of not only being unable to complete their homework during this pandemic, but being unable
to continue their overall education. Congress must address this issue by providing additional
financial support for home internet access in the next emergency relief package so that no child
falls behind in their education.
We specifically request that you include at least $2 billion in E-Rate funds for schools and
libraries to provide Wi-Fi hotspots or other devices with Wi-Fi capability to students without
adequate connectivity at their home. The E-Rate program is, and has been for over two decades,
an essential source of funding to connect the nation's schools and libraries to the internet. As the
coronavirus pandemic develops, this program offers a solution that may help mitigate the impact
on our most vulnerable families. We believe additional funding for E-Rate would greatly narrow
the homework gap during the current crisis and help ensure that all students can continue to
learn.
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Congress must act in light of the unprecedented disruption that the coronavirus has created for
our education system. We must work to close the homework gap and ensure that all students who
need internet access have the connectivity they need to continue learning from home.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter. Due to the closure of many Senate offices
during the coronavirus outbreak, physical signatures are unavailable. The listed senators have
asked to be signatories to this letter.

Sincerely,